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TONIGHT - WITH A SORT OF TRAILER CUM PROGRAMME ON THIS THREAD, AND THEN THE RECITAL STARTS PROPER TOMORROW ON ITS OWN DEDICATED THREAD. IT'LL RUN FOR 10 DAYS - WITH EACH OPUS HAVING A SEPARATE THREAD AND A MASTER THREAD TO GIVE ACCESS THROUGHOUT TO ALL PARTS OF THE RECITAL

I have been wanting to tell someone in the Grieg recital about a book I use for playing Grieg.

"Onstage with Grieg: Interpreting his Piano Music" by Einar Steen-Nokleberg. You probably know about it already. But it's a wonderful resource for studying Grieg's music.

There is a great review of the book on Amazon.com. I copied it here:"Nokleberg's book Onstage with Grieg is an excellent reference source for pianists of all levels and abilities. It is the only book of its kind which focuses only on the piano works of Edvard Grieg. Nokleberg who has recorded all of Griegs piano pieces, has provided us here with his ideas on proper interpretation. He draws not only from his personal experience, but from many sources of reference, namely Griegs letters and original prints. By using these sources along with his own ideas the amateur and even professional performer will have a clear and accurate view of the composers true intentions. As he states in the preface, this book is not intended to be read cover to cover, but rather to be used as a guide for whichever piece the pianist is currently attempting to learn. His analysis covers every piano work equally from both an interprative and technical point of view. This book is great for any pianist ready to delve into the wonderful world of Edvard Grieg -- and even better you are assured to be doing the composer justice by using Noklebergs helpful hints!"

WITH ONE DAY TO GO - THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW (OR FORGOT!) ABOUT THESE RECITALS!

How did it all start?A few months ago, Rupak reminded us of the first 'recital'- the 5 Metamorphosis pieces by Philip Glass, posted on RST (Rostosky's serious thread):

He said:

Quote:

Quote:It starts with Wayne, of course, our official Recruiter (ohh, the context is Wayne, Dipsy and Rossy were struggling with the Metamorphosis series by Philip Glass...)

Originally Posted By: WayneMaybe between us, Rossy and whoever else wants to join in, we could do one each, so we do the whole 5, and maybe post it up on PW? Show the talent on RST

...Dipsy caught the idea at once :Originally Posted By: DipsyThat's great Wayne! Both Rossy and I will do one - Rossy wants to do met 4, and I'll learn met 3 (assuming you're happy to do no 2). I'm a bit nervous but looking forward to it.If anyone else wants to prepare something - that would be wonderful, and if the pieces include met 1 and met 5 that would complete the set!. - though of course any piece which people want to share would be welcome, whatever it is.How about preparing something ready for the beginning of September?

...and what else, Wayne started chasing :Originally Posted By: Wayneerrr Ok, I'll try, just need to get up to speed... Rossy you gonna do M4 on an accoustic piano?Come on guys, we need 2 volunteers for M1 and M5! [quote]

The 5 pieces were played by Rossy, Wayne33yrs, myself (Dipsy), Recaredo and Rupak Bhattacharya on 16th September last year. People enjoyed this, so next up was Satie's Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes - 10 pieces in all. This was posted on RST in December, and performed by: Wayne33yrs, myself, Rupak Bhattacharya, Recaredo, Griffin, PianoStudent88, Peyton, AimeeO, LadyChen, and dire tonic.

The idea had caught on, and with more people interested in taking part, Mendelssohn's 48 'Songs Without Words' ('the big one'), was selected for the next recital. Unlike the first two, this recital developed an identity of its own. It was nurtured in RST, but once launched, it became clear that it was so big that it needed its own thread. People on RST continued to give lots of support; Wayne continued 'people-hunting' as 'official recruiter;' and when the time came, as before, Rossy (with me helping) put it all together - checking and compiling submissions, and he introduced the recital.

Today's recitalThis is nearly half as big again as the Mendelssohn recital. Partly because Rossy stopped working on it, and partly because people wanted to help run the recital, this one is a team effort, which is a new approach, but probably more resilient. There are 34 performers, many of whom have not taken part before. A few have taken on several pieces (the record is 5!) People have participated in more ways than before. Not only have they submitted recordings (and for some this is no mean feat - enormous problems have had to be overcome), but they have also helped with computer problems, given recording advice, supported each other with difficulties in learning pieces, written biographical information (Ganddalf), produced a map of participants (Rupak supported by casinitaly) and worked together to manage the project.

The image below is of you all those who have helped to make this happen. Each one of you is represented by a little light in the world. And if we haven't got your location exactly right, - what's a few hundred miles between friends?! (see end for list of locations). Those of you who had to pull out, because of illness or some other problem - you are there too.

The expression: 'The whole is greater than the sum of its parts' applies to this recital, and it is so much more than a collection of performances. We are now a community. People are already asking 'what's next?' and (apart from quiping 'the recital, of course!' - see programme below) I feel there can be no answer as yet, because this community should be involved in deciding that.

I'll leave the last word to Rupak in India who said:

Quote:

Quote:And surely, hats off to all of the participants for their precious contributions which involve enormous efforts and intense loves and passions for music! Bravo, everyone, Bravo

_________________________ XVIII-XXXVISometimes I try to progress faster than I am ready for.SwissMsFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

Ican hardly wait for this to start!!! I know everyone has worked very hard on these pieces. Even the easy looking pieces ended up with nuances that made them difficult to play well. Congratulations everyone who participated!!!! This was fun and very motivating over the summer. Can't wait to see what's next!!

glad you liked it - its a shame I forgot to put the dates into the programme at the end!

I added them in

_________________________ XVIII-XXXVISometimes I try to progress faster than I am ready for.SwissMsFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

As much as I understand the global thinking I'd rather see greater participation of ABF forum regulars. It's a shame to think that some of our fellows here are watching on helplessly and uninvolved as we tackle the challenges, enjoy the interaction, feel the buzz of participation and enjoy the fruits of it all coming together.

There is little that improves our technique and ability on the instrument more than the focus of preparing something for public consumption and little that increases the bonds between us better than a joint venture.

Despite the differences between us in terms of ability, distance, culture and personality this Grieg thing has acted like a drawstring bringing us all together with a common goal and a joint achievement.

As much as I understand the global thinking I'd rather see greater participation of ABF forum regulars. It's a shame to think that some of our fellows here are watching on helplessly and uninvolved as we tackle the challenges, enjoy the interaction, feel the buzz of participation and enjoy the fruits of it all coming together.

There is little that improves our technique and ability on the instrument more than the focus of preparing something for public consumption and little that increases the bonds between us better than a joint venture.

Despite the differences between us in terms of ability, distance, culture and personality this Grieg thing has acted like a drawstring bringing us all together with a common goal and a joint achievement.

Well-said, and I agree. For me, these recitals have been a great challenge and forced me to stretch myself when it's so much easier for me to just putter along and not get pieces to performance level before moving on.

Just wanted to post here that I'm thoroughly enjoying my daily listening routine of the Grieg Lyric Pieces. I have found a bunch of new ones I want to learn, but I had previously picked my next challenge which is the Grieg Holberg Suite. Originally written for piano, I had fallen in love with this many years back after hearing the Preludium on Public radio. I know that the Preludium and the Rigadoun will be quite the challenge, and upon first listening the Sarabande and Gavotte aren't terribly interesting, but I love the Air. For now, though, I'll just focus on the Preludium.

You just need to be inventive. I took two of the images (MOYD and Tchaikovsky Recital), put them together (nothing more tricky than Paint needed) and uploaded them back up. Pointed my sig to the combined one and ...

I'd tried to get the Joplin badge to match up with the MOYD vertical size, but with Grieg and Tchaikovsky towering over Joplin, I've uploaded a larger image (1 inch vertical), which I hope will line up with the other fellas.

I'd tried to get the Joplin badge to match up with the MOYD vertical size, but with Grieg and Tchaikovsky towering over Joplin, I've uploaded a larger image (1 inch vertical), which I hope will line up with the other fellas.

I'd tried to get the Joplin badge to match up with the MOYD vertical size, but with Grieg and Tchaikovsky towering over Joplin, I've uploaded a larger image (1 inch vertical), which I hope will line up with the other fellas.

Sweet! I have to be clever like Andy and match the Grieg with my MOYD to stay in the character count!

I don't know that Mr. PianoWorld wants to increase everyone's siggy character limitations... that could add up to a lot of images/space....

_________________________ XVIII-XXXVISometimes I try to progress faster than I am ready for.SwissMsFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90